Saving public schools a civil rights issue

3:27 PM,
Mar. 27, 2013

Written by

DeWayne Wickham

The fight against public school closings has become the new civil rights battle in this country - and rightfully so.

Faced with a billion dollar budget deficit, Chicago's public school system is the most recent urban district to announce a massive closure of schools. The city intends to shutter 61 elementary school buildings, nearly all of them in black and Hispanic neighborhoods. Like other cities, Chicago claims that budget deficits and declining student enrollments have forced it to turn out the lights in these inner city schools.